Les ministres of European Travail ont approuvé une approche generale de la directive sur les travailleurs des plateformes lundi (June 12), mark the fin d’un an et demi d’intenses negociations et ouvrant the voie à des negociations interinstitutionnelles with the Commission and the European Parliament.
The legislative proposal aims to clarify the working conditions of platform workers, and their contractual status.
At the center of the controversy, which has spanned three successive EU Council presidencies – France, the Czech Republic and Sweden – is the creation of a legal presumption of employment, which would make possible “independent” pseudo-rehabilitation, under certain supervised conditions.
Twenty-two member states approved the text of the general orientation during the Labor and Social Affairs Council (EPSCO) in Luxembourg. Only five member states – Estonia, Germany, Greece, Latvia and Spain – abstained.
In a joint statement, countries that wanted stronger guarantees for workers – Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain – agreed not to oppose it, To keep the legislative process on track. and agreeing to a final EU-wide text before the 2024 elections.
And a long way to go
Ministerial approval has not been granted. A series of conciliatory texts drafted by the Swedes between January and May failed to produce agreement at the technical and ambassadorial level.
Various camps arose. Some member states, such as Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands, have asked for a more ambitious text, with a strong legal presumption. They feared that the Swedish text would not have the same level of ambition.
On the other hand, France, a key player in ensuring a qualified majority, given the abstentions of Spain and Germany, wanted clearer exceptions to the assumption to be added in the operational part of the text.
This was a cause for war for the group in favor of an ambitious assumption, which he asserted would have the effect of weakening it as a whole.
The Swedes had to do their best to reassure the French camp about the application of exceptions while doing their best in the most ambitious country. Thus, the final text specifies that countries with legal mechanisms more appropriate than those set out in the Directive will be able to continue to rely on these mechanisms.
The French Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, who approved the script, specified that additional work was necessary ” to guarantee “ That assumption does not apply to him “ TRUE»Independents and to ensure a decent disclaimer text for platforms that follow national rules.
Monday’s ministerial endorsement shows member states’ willingness to move forward with negotiations and start new talks with the European Parliament and Commission in a “troika” between the institutions, as it is known in EU parlance.
